All Questions for

Las Positas College

What should every freshman at your school know before they start?

Assuming that I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior knowing what I know about college life now and making the transition, I would tell myself the exact opposite of what I believed in high school. As a senior not only was I naive and had an attitude that consisted of nothing but ditching school and partying but I did not understand the severity of my foolish actions. I did not realize that the lifestyle that I possesed at the time would continue to shape the nea future that would send my life in a completely different direction. I would tell myself that if I did not put myself into the routine of becoming studious and having concern for my grades, that my life would continue to spiral downwards for the rest of my life. I would tell myself to participate actively in school more because it would help to make the transition into college much easier. The last thing I would tell myself having now experienced the "partying" aspect of college, is to understand that there needs to be a balance of both in life and it is very important to establishthat.

As a time traveler coming back to myself as a high school senior, I would introduce a novel perspective to my old self. That perspective was softly drilled into my head as I joined the ranks of college students that endlessly muse about what to do with their lives. After meeting these troubled, searching students, I learned that many of them were cracked by the stress of what to do with their lives. I asked myself: how can it be so hard to know what you want to do? I thought that they should just do what they really want to do. That's when I met the drill which carried my epiphany.
As I would tell my past self, it was drilled into my head that you must do whatever you know to your core that you would love to do. That is, I have decided that a career is not about amassing wealth, savings, and buying things, but it is about giving your passion to the world. As my past self would look at me with wide, equivocal eyes, I would say to put all of your effort, no matter how taxing, into the passion you live for.

STOPPP! Before you decide to skip out on a university and stay home to go to community college, stop! Who am I? Oh yes, sorry...you see, I am you. Well, 2015 you to be exact. I'm here to stop you from making a big mistake, so listen up. Contrary to what you originally wanted, I am attending a community college. You know why? Because you decided that staying home to go to community college with your boyfriend was a better decision than going to a university. Bad idea, 18 year old me. No matter what you're telling others, I know you’re staying home because of him. Don't. Please don't. Sure, you didn't get into your dream college, but the others you did get into are just as amazing. This your time to grow; to learn and to blossom into your own beautiful self, apart from him, apart from your family, and leave your comfort zone. It’s time to live! Don't get me wrong, I've appreciated my years at Las Positas... but I know I would've been much happier elsewhere. You have great potential, kid. Don't settle for less.

If I were to go back in time to my senior year in high school I would tell myself to save all the money that I made working as a restaurant hostess. Now that I am a college student I have realized that I should have saved every dollar I made to afford the costs of tuition and books that are necessary to complete my education. I failed to understand that junior college also has a lot of expenses. Without money it would be impossible for my to be successful in my classes.
Another piece of advice that I would have given myself is to start researching my major choice earlier. I should have talked to college councilors as a senior to make a more concrete career goal. When I graduated I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to take until I begin taking general education courses. It wasn't until my sophomore year in college when I realized that I wanted to double major in dance and business. After completing my economics and ballet classes I decided that I wanted a dance career with a business foundation.

One of the most important requirements of attempting any type of degree is the english requirement. At least in California, there is an absolute minimum of two college level english courses that need to be taken in order to transfer or obtain any type of degree. My senior year in high school also required me to take an english class of course. Part of the curriculum that my teacher taught us as seniors was how college essays were structured, what the requirements of them would be, and what the best steps to take to complete them are. All of the information that he taught us in high school turned out to be exactly what was expected of a student on almost any type of project in almost any type of class. Although english may not be someone's major, it is definitely one of the most important foundations for suceeded in other classes. Therefore, I would have told myself as a senior to document all of the strategies and requirements that my english teacher taught us in our senior english class.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself to not slack off because hard work always pays off. The more you do now will make it easier for yourself in the future. I only took one AP class even though I had a lot of extra time on my hands and could have taken more. Now I'm going to have to take summer school to be able to stay on track to finish community college in two years, therefore shortening my vacation time in Hong Kong this summer. I also could have signed up for a class that would have allowed me to enroll in a beauty institute that would permit me to recieve a beauty license after two years, but I was too lazy. If I had done so, I could have become a makeup artist by now, which is one of my dreams in life. Now I reap the consequence of having to work extra hard to pick up the slack that I left off in my senior year and having to pack many difficult classes together for the next two years.

If if giving advice to myself as a highschool senior with the knowledge i know now, I would abuse my privalge. I have a pretty good memory and I would be able to find myself out of thousands of loopholes. I would probably givemyself "advice" on every to the answers of every exam I have ever taken. I would also givemyself advice to accept braces while I am insured to have a handsome smile for the college years. For my first serious advice I would mostlikey motivate myself by telling the senior of the past to go straight to college instead of taking a year break. Also i would say "Don't to worry about the money, girls, and the fraction of 29 out of 30 so-called friends that i havent seen since highschool." I would also givemyself plenty of advice such as prepering for a day and being more organized becuase I would not stress being ready for the day and knowing how exactly it is going to end. Also to sleep as much as I can while I can.

I would definitely take the time to sit that person down and explain to them to stop being closed minded about the idea that junior college is a place for a lazy or poor student and that it's actually an excellent environment. It?s a place for preparation for the future, financially affordable and a great place to meet so many brilliant professors and people. I would want myself to know how lucky I was to have the opportunity to live so close to such a great community college that everything was at the tips of my fingers. Junior college wasn't a step backwards for me, it was a step forwards to a new environment of where I have built myself academically and mentally, and my determination to work towards a goal and dedication to achieve it. Going to a community/junior college was the best decision of my life so far and I wish I knew that in senior year so that I did not have to stress so much off the false stereotypes.

If I could go back in time and give my self some advice I would say save every penny you have in your pocket or paycheck. I regret not looking for scholarships really hard as a senior or having a savings account. I would tell myself the reason i am in a community college is because I had to drop out of a university and go to community college is because I couldn't get alot of loan money to pay and not enough scholarship money. As the years go by tution will increase especially during a economical crisis. Another word of advice that I would give myself is work hard during high school and get all the knowledge you can because high school is only the begining of the road. The amount of work in college is ridiculous, so learning how to manage your time. Pick up a planner and write all over it to make sure you have time for work and school.

I would tell myself to first take a break from school for a year to help figure out what I want to focus on as a professional. Next I would tell myself to figure out a major in the local community college (Las Positas) and apply for financial aid to help with the cost of going to school. I would also remind myself to not take too many PE courses after fulfilling the credits. Next I would tell myself to enroll in an advanced medical/health care course because I should not be afraid of doing what I love to do the most -- taking care of people. I would also tell myself to get the Bachelor's degree in the health care field to help further my career, making sure I apply for financial aid and also find a part time job while going to school to help with other expenses outside of school.

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